Molina powers Giants with 2 homers in 8-3 win

DENVER(AP) -- If not for a sudden gust of wind, Bengie Molina
could've had a three-homer afternoon.

Not that he's quibbling with two.

Behind Molina's big day at the plate and Matt Cain's six innings
of one-hit ball, the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado
Rockies 8-3 on Thursday.

By showing a little patience, Molina finally solved Jason
Marquis.

The Giants catcher was hitless in 12 career plate appearances
against Marquis before lining a solo homer to left-center in the
second and crushing a two-run shot to right the following
inning.

It was Molina's sixth multihomer game and first since July 22
against Washington.

"The only thing I did different was I let the ball travel to
me," Molina said. "I was just trying to stay back as long as I
could."

Molina nearly had another homer in the fifth, but the wind held
the ball up and allowed Dexter Fowler to track it down in deep
center.

"I actually hit the third one better than I hit the other two,"
he said.

Molina finished with three hits and four RBIs, driving in
another run on a bases-loaded, check-swing groundout. On that
particular play in the seventh, Molina didn't even run toward
first, figuring he would be called back because he said the ball
bounced up and hit him in the hand.

When plate umpire Gerry Davis said nothing, Molina gladly
accepted the RBI as Eugenio Velez raced home on the short
chopper to the third-base side.

"It kind of got me by surprise that nobody said anything on that
play," Molina said. "I wasn't arguing, I was just saying 'It hit
my hand' and I walked away."

Cain (3-1) fought his control early, walking four in the first
two innings, then settled down. He retired nine of his last 10
before being lifted for a pinch runner in the seventh.

"Something would be a little bit off," Cain said of his early
struggles. "Just keep going, keep going and try to find (a
rhythm) ... Once I found it, I tried to hold onto it."

Giants manager Bruce Bochy called him "wildly effective."

Not exactly a label he wants to stick.

"You don't want to go out there and walk that many people," said
Cain, who had season highs in strikeouts (seven) and walks
(five). "I was just a little bit ahead of myself."

After neutralizing the Giants in a complete-game win on
Saturday, Marquis (4-2) didn't have the same stuff. He
surrendered seven runs, five earned, and eight hits in six
innings. He had been 4-0 in day games this season.

"Just one of those days where I didn't execute when I needed
to," Marquis said.

Brad Hawpe homered off Jeremy Affeldt in the seventh to break up
the shutout. Ian Stewart added a two-run homer in the ninth.

"We didn't do much to help ourselves today, across the board,"
manager Clint Hurdle said. "We didn't have a lot of offense."

Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins was given the day off to
iron out the kinks in his swing inside the batting cage. After
going hitless the night before, Atkins slumped to .224.

Hurdle took a similar approach with Chris Iannetta and Troy
Tulowitzki when they were struggling, benching them for what
Hurdle called "work days."

"For some people, I guess it works," said Tulowitzki, who went
0-for-3 with a walk against the Giants to drop his average to
.198. "I want to be in there every single day. ... Personally, I
don't like them. But if you don't like them, you have one option
- play better."

Notes: The Giants are 12-0 when scoring first. ... Rockies 1B
Todd Helton singled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak
to 10 games. He's 10 hits shy of 2,000. ... The Giants have hit
175 homers at Coors, the most by any opponent. ... Cain moved to
29-6 as a starter when the Giants score at least three runs for
him. ... Marquis had a 5-0 lifetime mark at Coors Field before
the loss.

NLAT COLORADO - SCORING UPDATETWO-RUN HOME RUN BY IAN STEWART (4) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT IN THE 9TH OFF JUSTIN MILLER SCORED RYAN SPILBORGHS.CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 8, COLORADO 3DUE UP FOR COLORADO: C BARMES (.243, 0-FOR-3)

NLAT COLORADO - SCORING UPDATESOLO HOME RUN BY BRAD HAWPE (4) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN THE 7TH OFF JEREMY AFFELDT.CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 7, COLORADO 1DUE UP FOR COLORADO: C IANNETTA (.200, 0-FOR-0, 2 BB)

NLAT COLORADO - SCORING UPDATETWO-RUN HOME RUN BY BENGIE MOLINA (7) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN THE 3RD OFF JASON MARQUIS SCORED EMMANUEL BURRISS.CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 5, COLORADO 0DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: R WINN (.226, 0-FOR-1)

NLAT COLORADO - SCORING UPDATESOLO HOME RUN BY BENGIE MOLINA (6) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN THE 2ND OFF JASON MARQUIS.CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 1, COLORADO 0DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: R WINN (.228, 2 HR, 9 RBI)